This blog is to share all my homemade crafts and ideas.

Tag Archives: Sewing

I had lots of the fabric leftover from the dress project. So I figured a skirt wouldn’t go a miss! Nor would a matching hair bow! Check out the pictures below. Super simple elasticated waist. For a 14 Month old I had a 19″ waist and 7″ length for above the knee. I’ll be posting another project that I have done putting more of this fabric to use. It was originally bought to match a custom made cloth nappy my niece had. One metre of fabric has gone a long long way, and there is still more of it left!

Sooo pleased with this!

Alice Band Black Swan

A little project just for me. I just couldn’t resist making myself this cute head band. The swan itself was drawn by myself, transferred onto felt and embellished with a lace ‘half’ yo-yo’, then decorated with seed beads. Other decorations I added were some little vintage black buttons, bugle beads and faceted glass beads. For the eye I used a vintage green Mother of Pearl button with a fish eye design. I embroidered a simple trellis on the chest too.

I’m so pleased with this, I’m going to make a few more animal designs. Next I want to try an octopus, I think this will look great too in those white and dirty vintage creams and off pinks. *squeals* can’t wait!

Oh, and to top it off.. I’m going to the NEC in Birmingham to the Sewing for Pleasure Craft Event at the end of March! Will be buying loads of fabric goodies and crafting essentials.

Gift for an avid reader!

Veteran Remembrance Poppy

Jacobean Peony Flower

These 2 bookmarks were made for my Grandparents. My Grandad is a WWII veteran and his father was in WWI. So a gift to show we still remember what they gave was lovingly received. My Nan, she just loves her flowers. At a risk of being boring or predictable, I designed a Peony flower in a Jacobean style. I guess it could also pass for a rose too. However, I thin it worked out looking nice. Let me know what you think below in the comments!

I want to share some tips with you about working with felt. Although I’m a relative newcomer to felt. I have taken some time working with it. Especially embroidering. It’s not too hard to embroider onto, altho if you tug at the work the felt will, over time distort. The worst is, you probably won’t notice until it’s too late and you’ve done all the hard work. Soooo.. my tip is to work with a piece larger than you intend to use for the end result. That way, the edges you’ve been gripping during any sewing will be trimmed off and you’ll have a lovely neat finish.

If your felt is thin or the acrylic type. You might want to strengthen the overall design by sandwiching a light card in between another piece of the felt. Sew close to the edge of the card. so that it’s trapped inside. A thin layer of PVA glue between the layers is a good idea too.

To finish I topped them with a button, and on my Nan’s, a bit of ribbon from my stash. These are around 6.5″ x 2.5″ in size. The poppy design ended up being a smidge taller due to the script.

Handmade Gift

Front - Click to enlarge

I’ve been quite busy over the winter months, especially before Christmas. So I have a backlog of stuff I need to post. Most of the things you need for this are tools most people and almost definitely frequent crafters’ will have already.

The wall hanging is made from 2 x A4 chipboard (cardboard), cotton fabric, acrylic yarn and felt. Held together with fabric glue I used PVA glue as it does a good job, also I used some cotton embroidery thread. You’ll also need scissors, a hole punch suitable for heavy card and hammer, pencil, embroidery needle or a large sewing needle, iron, and last but definitely not least a decent craft knife/Stanley blade.

Made for my niece as a Christmas present. I wanted to include her name, Summah. The name is cut out using acrylic felt because it was what I had in my stash. But you could use any you have.

Directions
Draw out yourself a cloud design. To make it as even as mine you can cheat like I did and draw around something =] .

I used a plate and something else small I can’t remember, maybe a cookie cutter to draw the rainbow. You could just use a rectangle though instead of a rainbow shape. Cut both out with a blade.
At this point make sure you mark evenly according to the weight balance of your shapes the wholes and don’t punch them too close to the edge as it will not work very well. Important – Keep the bits you punch out. You’ll need them afterwards! Read the rest of this entry →

The buttons were made using a simple technique. With leftover yarn from the scarf. There should be more than enough if you have good tension.

Cut 3 lengths of yarn at around 8″
3 x 2″ diameter felt circles, or big enough to cover the buttons as pictured.

Tie knots in the centre to make a bobble. Split the yarn so you have 4 tails (see picture below) and thread each through the 4 eyes of the button.

Using small stitches, make a running stitch around circles of felt. Do not knot yet.

Pull slightly on the thread so that it creates a slight dome shape. Place in the prepared knotted wool and button. Pull the thread and make sure the thread covers the back of the button centrally. Tie off the thread after sewing over the felt and yarn to secure the back, as these will be pulled at when used.

Using the picture to help you with placement, use the tails of the buttons to tie onto the rib of the scarf. Making sure they line up with the natural holes created by your stitches.

Personalized Fathers Day Gift

Overview of Embroidery

I said I’d update you all on my Father’s Day project for my hubby from my 2yr old son. I started the embroidery yesterday afternoon. I was surprised how quickly it grew. It’s pictured here with the mount i intend to use. I used two shades of a silvery grey. The canvas I used is slightly off-white. But that’s ok, it’s not as contrast as it looks in the picture.

Below is a picture guide to how I went about this. Any suggestions for the bottom right hand corner would be good. Or even if this should be filled in. I did want to reference the year and a father son quote that relates to the hands.

Please let me know what you think below.

Draw around hand cut out with light pencil

Check the composition of the hands with your frame or mount.

Using a large embroidery hoop, choose one hand to start with and move the hoop accordingly.

I used backstitch for my son's hand and outline stitch for my hubby's hand.

A Birthday Gift for my Mother

Pink and Silver Theme Bag - Click to Enlarge

If you remember an earlier post about me going to the craft fair in Birmingham. I posted about purchasing lots of wool roving, silk and embroidery threads along with a few other things. Well, this is one result of this shopping spree. Let me know what you think below with a comment. I love to hear peoples opinions!

I was inspired by some of the work created by the people who run 21st Century Yarns. I created my own bag pattern to work from, and for anyone who knows me, would know how much of a perfectionist I am when it comes to planning and executing my craft projects. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted it to look. In the end I was very happy with this design. Although if I could change one thing I would have added even stiffer interfacing. I did think it would be heavy enough though. Something to learn from I guess.

As you can see by the pictures, I used my machine to fix the threads that I layered over the cotton fabric. I took time to make sure the placement was right. I used a wide silver coloured ribbon as an added accent which I really love. The background layer is calico that has been dyed in different tones. The colours are subtle but really work well. It’s lined with a silver coloured hand woven silk that I picked up from a different stall.

I am going to make a cushion in this similar fashion. Except I’m going to work in wool felt to add a bolder texture. This will be in a red/plum and a selection of greens. Any questions about my crafts are welcome! Happy Crafting!

Make a pincushion

Click to Enlarge

I was asked to make a pincushion for my Aunt. Her favourite colours are black and white so that gave me my starting block. I think choosing fabric, is sometimes the hardest bit. I knew how I wanted it to look, so I winged it from there.

This is a rough guide to how it was made. It really is a simple design tho, let me know if you try this.

What you’ll need½ metre (roughly) Ribbon
1 or 2 Buttons
2-3 Different Patterned Fabric (I used quilting cotton)
3.5″ square of Felt (any colour, but try not to be too contrasting if you can see it through the fabric)
Coordinating Sewing thread
Toy stuffing
Quilting Square (optional, but easier)Read the rest of this entry →

Crafting Goodies

My Goodies

This huge exhibition has so many talented artists and many interesting crafts to explore.

My favourite stall holder was 21st Century Yarns, with their hand dyed yarns and cloth. I am going to be using these threads for a few different projects. A silk embroidered hand/clutch bag, an embellished cushion.

I also purchased some 100% cotton yarn, hand dyed in Chile by Araucanía Yarns. It’s a smooth thick yarn, pictured in blue, black and green. Can’t wait to make myself and my son a snuggly scarf with the lush one-off hanks. Each one sold creates more opportunities for the local people of Chile, bringing new skills, jobs and hope fr the future.

Enhancing a simple knit scarf

Click to enlarge

A little project I was asked to do was to jazz up this hand knit scarf. A few sequins and beads later I came up with this. It’s quite a trend to have sequins sewn onto knitted accessories so for sure this is not ‘new’. But if you do this yourself it will definitely be unique.

To do this technique tie your sewing thread to the scarf where you would like the sequin. Thread your sequin and bead onto the needle and push to the fabric. Thread the needle back through the sequin and tie off below. Try not to go too deep through the scarf as you don’t want the thread showing on the other side. If your sequins aren’t too spaced you can do more than one at a time by threading your cotton through the scarf so that it can’t be seen. Do several of these and tie off securely.

Add some tassel with leftover yarn from your project. Add in a bit of coloured yarn to tie in the colours and you have a completely overhauled scarf!

Valentines Personalized Magnet

Valentine Magnet

What could be more manly than a magnet? Ok, maybe a few things, but as far as valentines go, there isn’t much choice for men. Men, in general, don’t really care about flowers, chocolates and cute teddy bears. So I decided to make a magnet for my hubby.

It was a relatively easy as far putting it together. If you have a crafty stash this will be an ideal project to use those scraps and odd ends up.

Directions
Cut out two heart-shaped pieces of fabric, they don’t have to match. You can experiment with different colours or just use a plain coloured fabric on the back.

Print out a name or a word you want used on the heart, such as; love, xoxo, ur gr8, txt me, nicknames would work great too, etc. What word you use all depends on the size you choose to do. Remember the larger the piece the stronger the magnet you need. To be safe, I used two on mine.

Cut out the letter on fusible webbing and arrange them on your hearts. Make sure you leave room for your seam. ¼″ is usually enough. Press for a couple seconds, long enough for it to bond.

Sew the magnets on the inside of the back heart fabric. I don’t have a picture but just sew over the magnets until they are trapped in a web of thread. This way you won’t have magnets showing or messy glue to deal with.

Back detail

Here is detail of the back so you can see how it looks with the magnets sewn in.

Next you will want to embellish the front of your heart with little ‘X’s’ and ‘O’s’. I used tiny buttons as ‘O’s’ and threaded them on using a coloured embroidery thread. You can embroider anything you feel right to your valentine.

Turn the right sides of the two heart pieces together. Pin to secure and sew straight stitch to seal, remember when you sew up to leave at least an inch so you can turn it out after. I recommend leaving the gap on the straight edge of the heart so it will be easier to sew up. For best appearances trim the inside corners and curved edges, where the fabric is likely to make the outside look crumpled.

Stuff as much stuffing as you would like inside into your mini cushion shape. Sew up the gap.

How to make an easy no zip cushion cover

A no zip cushion is not only super easy but super safe for toddlers as they can’t scratch their faces on it. Here’s how I put this together.

I found that it was more expensive to buy the oblong shaped cushion inner than a larger square one. So I thought I’d just make one myself from one square inner.

For this cushion I took an Ikea INNER inner cushion 50cm x 50cm (20×20 Inches) and halved it so I could make two cushions for my sons toddler bed. To do this you can mark the centre with a pen both sides. Using running stitch follow the line you’ve drawn and tie off. This will help squish the poly fill down so you can run a machine over it. Make a channel using the line as a guide and cut down the centre of this channel sealing and separating the two halves.

If using different inner cushions for this project you need to measure the longest side and double this number and add 5 inches to get the length of material you will need. Then measure the shortest and add 0.5 inches this will be your width. Otherwise follow the measurement below. I always use a ¼ Inch seam allowance. All my measurement include this unless stated.

Instruction Guide:These are not exact instructions. But hopefully will provide you with enough of a guide to try it out yourself.

Pin pieces together

Pin your pieces together rights sides facing with your cording wedge between them. Remember that the fold in your binding or cording has to be put right edge inside. So when turned out it is facing the right way.

The shortest length of edging will be at the back. Each of the ties are 6.5 inches in length. The rest of the edging will run from the back right round the front back to the other side at the back.

First time quilting

Decided to share a project I worked on for my son. I had never quilted anything before so this was a great achievement for me. I didn’t use a pattern as it is quite basic in design. Really enjoyed it tho, have a few more ideas in the pipe line. Want to be more adventurous as far as quilting goes.

Now I have a baby niece I guess I have the greatest excuse in the word to go all crazy cute!

Please post your baby related quilts and patchwork creations. I would really love to see them, let me know what prompted you to make them too.

Also, do any of you have any ideas of what you do with all those tiny scraps, and odd leftover shapes of fabric? I have a huge bag of them! Thanks.